13 Popular Bollywood Movies That Had No Female Leads
Posted On: 23 Jan 2023 | Last Updated : 04 Oct 2024 | Views : 1.1k
Actresses play prominent roles in the success of films, who not only add glamour to the movie but also assures the gender balance of the movie. The famous comedian Alison Bechdel developed a matrix to test gender fairness in movies, which includes three criteria - there need to be two women in the movie, the women must talk to each other and they must talk about something other than just men. Surprisingly, very few movies, be they Hollywood or Bollywood, successfully pass the test, and more surprising is the case that there are certain movies that do not even fulfill one criterion. Like many other industries, the Bollywood industry is also characterized to be a male-dominated industry, yet actresses are important to promptly present the storyline by bringing the characters to life. Some consider actresses to add glamour to Bollywood movies; however, there have been Bollywood movies that breached the stereotypical rules and performed well without any female lead characters and yet succeeded and garnered praises from critics and audiences alike. So, today we will discuss Bollywood movies without female leads.
1. Yaadein (1964)
Directed and produced by Sunil Dutt, the black and white movie Yaadein is one of its kind. It is not only one of the Bollywood movies with no female lead, but also the movie with the least number of characters. The movie follows the story of a young man who comes home to realise that his wife and son have left him, and recollects the memories of his life and regrets all his misdeeds. The movie only features Sunil Dutt, and finally we see actress Nargis Dutt and young Sanjay Dutt as silhouettes in the movie's climax. Despite being the only actor to act in the movie, Sunil Dutt justified his role and took the responsibility to present the powerful storyline of the movie all by himself.
2. Ek Ajnabee (2005)
The 2005 action drama, directed by Apoorva Lakhia, Ek Ajnabee follows the story of an ex-army officer named Suryaveer (Amitabh Bachchan), who is assigned to take care of a little girl named Anamika by an army comrade Captain Shekhar (Arjun Rampal). Initially, Suryaveer dislikes the little girl, but later grows fond of her and also helps Shekhar to find her, when she gets kidnapped. The movie was inspired by Tony Scott’s Man on Fire, and the script was written keeping Amitabh Bachchan in mind. It is one of the top Bollywood films with no female lead, and the two male leads, Amitabh Bachchan and Arjun Rampal well took the responsibility of making the movie a well-executed drama.
3. Kabul Express (2006)
Thriller action drama directed by Kabir Khan, Kabul Express revolves around two Indian journalists played by John Abraham and Arshad Warsi, an American journalist and Afghani guide, who are taken hostages by the Pakistani army. The four are forced to spend their time and take a difficult journey in the war-torn region. The experiences of the journey completely transform their perspectives about life, and their attitude towards various things. Despite the American actress Linda Arsenio playing an important supporting role in the movie, the movie didn’t have any female lead character, which made the movie feature in the list of movies without any lead actress.
4. Dhamaal (2007)
Directed by Indra Kumar, the action-comedy drama Dhamaal, features Sanjay Dutt, Riteish Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi, Aashish Chaudhary and Javed Jaffrey in the key roles. The movie follows the story of four friends named Roy, Manav, Aditya and Boman, who are thrown out by their landlord after their continuous failure to pay the rent. Later, they meet a dying man who informs them about the hidden treasure in the park in Goa. However, Inspector Kabir (Sanjay Dutt) learns about the treasure too, which starts their race to reach the treasure and claim it for themselves. The movie garnered the praises of critics and audience alike, despite having no female lead in the movie, and became one of the best Bollywood films without female leads.
5. Taare Zameen Par (2007)
Aamir Khan-directed family drama Taare Zameen Par is a story of a young boy named Ishaan (Darsheel Safary), who is constantly criticised by his family for his poor academic performance, and after being tired of his negligent attitude, his family sends him to boarding school. This makes him depressed and suicidal; however, his life turns when an art teacher named Ram (Aamir Khan) comes to his life. Ram learns that Ishaan is suffering from dyslexia and reveals this to his parents; later, he also helps Ishaan with his academics and gets better in his studies. The movie is too focused on Ishaan and Ram, and their struggle that people miss to notice that it doesn’t have any lead actress, which also makes it one of the best Bollywood movies without lead actresses.
6. Bombay to Goa (2007)
The comedy drama Bombay to Goa, directed by Raj Pendurkar, follows the story of a man named Lal and his brother, who collect the money to buy a transport bus and gather passengers to travel from Bombay to Goa. In the bus, there is a passenger who claims to have a map of the hidden treasure, which attracts the attention of everyone, which begins the adventure of treasure hunt. It is one of the top comedy Bollywood movies without actresses, but a bunch of top Bollywood comedians, like Raju Srivastava, Sunil Pal, Ahsaan Qureshi, Asrani and Vijay Raaz, make the movie a superhit comedy.
7. Aamir (2008)
The 2008 action thriller drama Aamir, directed by debutante Raj Kumar Gupta, features Rajeev Khandelwal in the titular role in the movie. The movie follows the story of a young man named Aamir, who is an NRI doctor, and comes to India to visit his family, but gets involved with a terrorist activity. His entire family gets kidnapped by a terrorist group, who forces him to plant the bomb, as his denial to indulge in the plan may lead to the death of his family. The movie has its key focus on Aamir and the bomb planting; thus, making him the only key character in the entire story. Thus, making it one of the Bollywood movies without actresses.
8. A Wednesday! (2008)
Directed by Neeraj Pandey, the thriller drama A Wednesday!, features Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher in the main roles. A retired police officer, Prakash Rathod (Anupam Kher) recollects the memories of one of the most complicated cases of his careers, where an ordinary man carries out a bomb scare to compel the police and other concerned authorities to kill three dreaded terrorists under police custody. The ordinary commoner successfully accomplishes his mission, which lets him take a sigh of relief for taking the revenge who are the reason for his and many people’s destroyed families. The storyline of the movie is so involved in following the events of the bomb scare and the actions of the police that the audience does not realise that the movie doesn’t have any lead actress, which make it one of the prominent Bollywood movies with no actresses.
9. Udaan (2010)
The coming-of-age drama Udaan, directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, featuring Ronit Roy and Rajat Barmecha, follows the story of a young boy named Rohan (Rajat Barmecha), who is expelled from the school. He comes home to his strict father and learns about his half-brother, which shocks him. Later, he is forced to work in his father’s factory, despite his wishes to be a writer. The movie portrays the troubled relationship of father and son, and has no actress in the movie.
10. Ferrari Ki Sawaari (2012)
Sports comedy drama directed by Rajesh Mapuskar Ferrari Ki Sawaari, which follows the story of a single father (Sharman Joshi), who steals a Ferrari to take his son to Lord’s Cricket Ground and fulfil his dream of playing cricket on that ground. Much later, he realises that the car belongs to none other than the best Indian cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar, who also happens to be his son’s idol. The movie revolves around the man, his father Deboo and his son Kayo, while there is no female lead, and with no feminine touch, the movie makes it to the list of Bollywood films with no female actresses.
11. Kya Dilli Kya Lahore (2014)
Vijay Raaz’s action war drama Kya Dilli Kya Lahore, features actors like Manu Rishi Chadda, Rajendranath Zutshi and Vishwajeet Pradhan. The movie follows the story of two army officers, one from India and one from Pakistan, who survive in the cross-fire war between the two countries. Later, the two fight over a document file that is of key importance to both the countries and its access can make the country have advantage over the other in warfare. The key focus of the movie is on the two soldiers from different countries, which doesn’t make the audience feel the lack of femininity in the movie, making it a good entertainment without any actress.
12. An Action Hero (2022)
The 2022 action-adventure drama An Action Hero, directed by Anirudh Iyer, features Ayushmann Khurrana and Jaideep Ahlawat in the main roles. The movie follows the story of a famous actor named Maanav (Ayushmann Khurrana), who gets involved in an accident in Haryana, which changes his life. To escape the police and media, Maanav goes into hiding, but things continue to get complicated, which pose a threat to his life. Like his other movies, Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer An Action Hero has a storyline which is different from conventional Bollywood plots. It is one of the Bollywood films with no actresses, which significantly created a craze about the movie on social media, as Ayushmann Khurrana’s fans were excited to watch his film where he has no love interest.
13. Chandu Champion (2024)
Kabir Khan's biopic Chandu Champion, starring Kartik Aaryan, virtually had no female lead except for cameos by Sonali Kulkarni and Bhagyashree Borse. Chandu Champion was the inspirational real-life story of Padma Shri Awardee Murlikant Petkar, India's first paralympic gold medalist in 1972, who joined the Indian Army to take up boxing as a sport but an accident left him paralyzed later only to become a swimming champion at the Heidelberg Paralympics.
